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This is some advice my coworker and friend, Cindy, gave me yesterday (paraphrased). We were talking about work, goals, and a bunch of other things. She’s seen that I’ve been running extremely hard for the last couple of months (a season I think is coming to an end), and I’m more than a bit tired. My tendencies toward workaholism and perfectionism also don’t help with this.
So we talked about this. And her advice, just in saying this one thing, is a reminder of how I need to make sure I create proper boundaries for myself:
- That, at a certain point, almost nothing is so important that it can’t wait until the morning.
- That I need a time when I can just turn off and not concern myself with trying to get all the things done.
- That if my pursuit of God and/or relationship with my family are at risk of being neglected, then I need to own that and repent.[1. Which is not to say that these two things are happening, but they can, without question.]
In other words, if I’m working in an unhealthy way, whether spiritually or physically (or, more accurately, spiritually and physically since the two are almost always related), then I need to stop and check my heart.
Maybe you’re like me and have a tendency toward workaholism. Maybe you’re a perfectionist. Maybe you’re in a new job and are trying to achieve a few wins to prove yourself. I’m right there with you. I deal with all of that. But let’s be careful that we don’t work ourselves to death in the process. Cindy’s advice is worth taking:
If you can’t get it done—and I mean, really can’t get it done—the world’s not going to end. And even if you could, there’s always going to be one more thing to do. So take care of yourself, take care of your heart. That next thing will can wait.
